Although it is all around us all of the time, we rarely give much thought to our invisible yet powerful companion, sound. It shapes our brains for better and worse. Learning a second language or playing a musical instrument sharpens our brains. Lack of exposure to meaningful sound and overexposure to meaningless sound blunts our brains and stunts our development. There are ways to capture the imprint that sounds leave on our nervous systems, empowering us to learn more and more about this invisible ally and enemy of brain health.

Nina Kraus, is Professor of Communication Sciences, Neurobiology, Otolaryngology; Hugh Knowles Chair at Northwestern University. She is a scientist, inventor, and amateur musician who studies the biology of auditory learning. Through a series of innovative studies involving thousands of research participants from birth to age 90, her research has found that our lives in sound, for better (musicians, bilinguals) or worse (language disorders, aging, hearing loss), shape how we hear. Using the principles of neuroscience to improve human communication, she advocates for best practices in education, health, and social policy. (www.brainvolts.northwestern.edu)